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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Holiday Jumper with removable Menorah/Christmas Tree

My Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail was a great hit, and a lot of fun to make. My sister and I were talking about it one day, and found that the options are never ending! We came up with so many new ideas, so the next project for Littleheart's holiday wardrobe is the Hanukkah (Christmas) Jumper with removable Menorah (Christmas Tree). This one can definitely have the interchangeable ruffle like the Thanksgiving jumper with removable turkey tail, but to change things a bit the interchangeable piece for this dress will be snowflakes and a snowman.I made the jumper with the Menorah piece, since we celebrate Hanukkah (and Littleheart has a Hanukkah party this Friday), but it is really easy to make something for Christmas. Since Christmas is also the holiday of lights, I suggest doing some candles, and maybe a tree in the middle. Here is an illustration of what I would do, but the options are never-ending!

I also had some comments last time like - "too bad I don't have a girl I can make this for". Well, you don't need a girl, the idea would be super cute for a boy too! I would make a basic overall, and have the interchangeable piece on the butt. I would take one symbol, instead of a line of symbols. So for thanksgiving, I would just make a turkey, or for Christmas a Tree. I am sure I will be trying it out for my nephew pretty soon....What I like about this jumper, and the thanksgiving one too, is that it can be worn after the holidays too. Kids grow so fast, and it is really a waste of time to make them something they can wear only once. This is the perfect solution!Anyway, if you want to make the Hanukkah (Christmas) Jumper with removable Menorah (Christmas Tree) then keep on reading...

Cut your facing pieces according to the pattern, out of one of your cotton materials.

Cut your front and back jumper piece out of your black corduroy material.

Cut 9 little flames out of your yellow felt

Cut 4 candle pieces out of each cotton fabric (this will make 2 candles for each color). For one color only cut out 2 pieces (for the center candle)

Cut out four "tail" pieces out of your black corduroy.

Follow Ikatbag's instructions to make the jumper. I made two pleats in the front of my jumper, so if you want to do that, you need to make your front piece a bit wider...

My corduroy material already has little snowflakes embroidered to it, so I only made one little snowflake applique in the front. Follow my instructions from the Thanksgiving Jumper tutorial here if you would like to make appliques on the front.

Now for the fun part!

Take two "tail" pieces and pin them right sides together. Sew along the top edges.

Flip your tail right sides out. Fold your bottom edges under (about 1/8 of an inch), press and topstitch around the entire piece.

Now you are going to make the candles. Cut out 9 candle pieces out of your one-sided interfacing and iron them to 9 candle pieces (2 of each fabric, and one of the center candle). Make the interfacing pieces a little smaller all around.

Now take two candle pieces (same color - one with interfacing and one without) and pin them right sides together. Sew around the entire piece, leaving one short side open. Clip corners, flip it right sides out, iron and topstitch around, folding under the side that is still open. Repeat this for the other 8 candles. (either use different color thread for each candle, or do them all with black, like I did).

Place your "tail" piece so that it looks like a rainbow (bump up) (for the thanksgiving turkey tail it was the other way around). Now take one of your "tail" pieces and mark the middle. Take your center candle, and pin it there. Have the candle "peak out" at the top about half an inch. Now arrange the rest of your candles on the "tail" piece. Make sure you have the same distance between each candle. Pin them down.

Stitch the candles on carefully. Just stitch on the right and left side of the candle, over your top stitching, so you don't have any new visible stitches.

Hand stitch your felt flames to each candle. I used orange embroidery thread, and actually hand stitched all around the flame.

This is what your "Menorah" should look like now:

Place your "Menorah" on the back of your jumper, according to where you want it to be.

Mark five places on the jumper, where you want your snaps to go. Mark the same distances on your "Menorah", with chalk or a removable marker.

Snap on your snaps, using a snap pliers or sew on simple snaps. It is a bit tricky to put the snaps on, since they go in the middle of the jumper, and you need to fold up the material to get there. If it isn't working, use sew on snaps. Just make sure you sew them on really well.

Your Menorah part is done!

Now for the interchangeable pieces:

Like I said earlier, you can definitely make a ruffle piece to snap on after the holidays, or you can try out something new like my Snowflakes/Snowman.

Ruffle piece:Take two strips of one of your cotton fabrics, one about 4" wide and the other 8" wide, and 17 " long. Fold them in half and press. Then ruffle the top, using your largest stitch (for a good tutorial on ruffles, go here).Take two "tail" pieces and pin them right sides together. Sew along the top edges. Sandwich the ruffles between the two tail pieces, inside of the side you left open. Place the narrow one on top of the wider one, and pin in place. Stitch across the bottom of the tail piece. Sew on the snaps in the same distances as the Menorah and voila! You have your extra ruffle piece (sorry no step by step pictures).

Snowflake/Snowman piece:

For this piece I played around with my new fabric markers a bit. I cut out the snowflake and snowman out of white fabric and ironed on interfacing to the back. The I drew on the pieces with my fabric markers. I zigzagged around the edges and attached them onto my "tail" piece directly with the snaps.

Here you go, your interchangeable holiday jumper!

I showed Littleheart the dress and she wanted to put it on right away. Since she was already showered and dressed for bed, our compromise was to put it on over her jammies. She loved it, and was very willing to pose for the picture. I think the candles in the back turned out really pretty. Like I said, you can easily adapt it to a Christmas dress, use other symbols and Christmas fabrics, I bet it will look great!

I love this idea! When I made my daughter a holiday dress this year, I intentionally used only red, black, and white, so I could sew on a heart over the present and turn it into a Valentine dress, but I like your idea even better. Very creative!Bonny @ thedomesticatedprincess.com

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